Space for Hunting: Understanding Indigenous and other Hunters’ Impacts in the Congo Basin Forests

In this paper, we first compare and contrast, from the published literature and unpublished data, the nature and frequency of hunting by Pygmy and non-Pygmy hunters in the Congo Basin. For this, we first use an approach similar to Robinson and Redford’s (1987), who examined the difference between hunting by Indians and hunting by colonists in Neotropical forests. We then use these data to determine whether there are significant differences in the faunal extraction rates by these two groups. In the second half, we model and map the hunting pressure exerted by rural non-Pygmy hunters and Pygmy hunters throughout the Congo Basin forests. Finally, we reflect on whether sustainable hunting by indigenous peoples in tropical forests is possible, and whether wild meat extraction levels by indigenous people are compatible within conservation protected areas. This last point is of particular importance given the conflicts, real or perceived, that are typical, despite the surge in NGOs defending nature conservation and indigenous rights. Experience shows that the indigenous peoples rights and the biodiversity conservation movements have had a tradition of operating separately. In recent years, there has been much debate regarding whether and to what extent the conservation community has embarked upon a global biodiversity conservation effort that, as some observers say, excludes indigenous peoples in the process. We use empirical data and modeling to forward a more rational examination of the impact of subsistence hunting in forests in the Congo Basin.